Why a Rustler

My first memories of my father was him building a 17ft wooden sailing boat a Suffolk Skipper, called Ahann – All Hell and No Notion. At the tender age of 3, I learnt how to use a spoke shave and how to hold a plane correctly. He was a perfectionist and the boat was built beautifully. When I was 11, we built a Mirror Dinghy in our garage, even though I was only 11 he expected high standards, I remember the hours of wet sanding! But it gave me a love craftsmanship and a love of wood.

Our first boat was a Rival 38 Ituna – we loved her sea kindly temperament, which is a good thing as Mags gets very seasick. Ituna looked after us well and we circumnavigated mainland Britain in her. Wherever we went we would be complimented on her lines, she is a good looking boat. After 11 years of ownership we reluctantly decided to change her. We were looking for a boat with similar characteristics, with a little more accommodation and better sailing performance. For many years we had admired Rustlers from a distance at the Southampton Boat Show, there was a connection with Rival, as Rival became Rival Bowman and was bought by Rustler. One wet day storm bound in Falmouth, we decided to visit the Rustler yard. We turned up unannounced and Adrian showed us around. We just loved the quality that oozed from the yard, the attention to detail and the smells of the yard transported me back to my childhood. We seriously looked at Najad and Malo, but just kept coming back to the Rustler.

In May 2012, we had the opportunity in May 2012 of sailing on Whinchat – Peter and Julia Harvey’s Rustler 42 – there was precious little wind – which was actual ideal. We know Rustlers come to their own in heavy weather but had been unsure how they would perform in light wind – well our concern was misplaced and for a heavy displacement cruiser she had a good speed. Little did we realize a year later…….

May 2013 – we had signed the contract after many mails and phones. The one slight challenge is we are living in Finland…..